Three CSU Campuses Benefit from EDD Grants

April 1, 2011

Chico State, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State L.A. (in conjunction with the South Bay Center for Counseling) will receive approximately $500,000 each to help at-risk students attain a college degree to become teachers thanks to a grant from the California Employment Development Department. The funding will support teacher pathway development programs that integrate after-school employment with teacher preparation.

Each of the programs involves a partnership between a CSU campus, community college, community organization, an after-school employer and a local Workforce Investment Board. Participants attend community college while earning a salary by working in an after-school program that focuses on high-need elementary school students. They will then transfer to a CSU campus to become teachers, and eventually return to teach in their communities. Chico, Fullerton and L.A. join East Bay, San Francisco, San Diego, Dominguez Hills, Long Beach and Northridge who, with their partners, received similar funding last summer.

The program, part of the California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CalGRIP), is aimed at reducing gang involvement by providing at-risk high school students with a pathway to teaching.